Wilhelm Vischer (botanist)

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Wilhelm Matthäus Vischer (* 5. January 1890 in Basel , Switzerland ; † 2 June 1960 ibid ) was a Swiss botanist . His main interests were the research of algae . He also worked in nature conservation and as a professor at the University of Basel . His botanical author abbreviation is " Vischer ".

Life

Origin and education

Willhelm Vischer was born on January 5, 1890 in Basel. He was the first child of the notary Wilhelm Vischer (1861–1928) and Helene Iselin (1866–1908), both of whom came from old Basel families; the theologian Eberhard Vischer was his uncle. In his primary school days, Vischer moved to Rittergasse, where he kept returning after various stays. He and his siblings were brought up in a humanistic way and attended the humanistic high school in Basel. After several semesters of preparatory medical studies, Vischer turned under the influence of Robert Chodat of Botany to. In 1914 he did his doctorate with Karl von Goebel at the University of Munich with summa cum laude .

Foreign expeditions and stays

As part of his botanical studies with Robert Chodat, Vischer was allowed to take small botanical trips to the Balearic Islands and the Iberian Peninsula . In 1914 he was able to accompany Robert Chodat on a research trip to Paraguay .

As a plantation botanist, Vischer worked from 1919 to 1923 at the Rubberproef station in Buitenzorg , where he dealt with rubber extraction and increasing yields. From there, Vischer undertook an expedition in 1922 that took him to what is now the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park in East Java and also to Bali , and which he will remember well into old age. Scientific treatises in Dutch and also in English, which Vischer wrote during his stay in West Java , made his fame rise. Vischer was invited to South Sumatra as a specialist consultant for rubber, tea and coffee cultivators , but did not follow this invitation.

Research and teaching

Instead, Vischer returned to his hometown of Basel and completed his habilitation at the University of Basel in March 1924. In 1926, Vischer was given a teaching position for “systematic and pharmaceutical botany and plant geography”. Two years later he was appointed associate professor in 1928.

His research activities focused primarily on algae and occasionally mushrooms . He was particularly active in the production of pure cultures, mainly of freshwater forms, which Vischer had learned under Robert Chodat. Vischer described a large number of new genera and species. In his honor, Adolf Pascher named a genus ( heterococcale ) with several species as Vischeria in 1938 , precisely because Vischer has made great contributions to the knowledge of hetero accounts . After him, Pascher also named a Mischococcus species as Mischococcus vischerianus .

natural reserve

For many years, Vischer was chairman of the commission of inquiry and the staff for the Swiss National Park . In this context, he himself carried out studies on soil algae , the results of which are reflected in the results of the scientific studies in the Swiss National Park. New episode have appeared. Due to his many trips and excursions , Vischer saw nature endangered by the increasing, intensive cultivation. Particularly noteworthy is his book “Nature Conservation in Switzerland”, published in Basel in 1946. The tasks of nature conservation in Switzerland, its previous achievements and the solutions still to be sought were compiled on the basis of many reports .

Memberships

Vischer was President of the Swiss Botanical Society and co-founder of the Basel Botanical Society . In 1937 and 1938 he chaired the Swiss Central Agency for Refugee Aid and between 1927 and 1939 the Nature Conservation Commission of the Swiss Society for Natural Research .

Wilhelm Vischer (1891–1960), botanist; Grave in the Wolfgottesacker cemetery, Basel
Grave in the Wolfgottesacker cemetery , Basel

Works (selection)

  • Wilhelm Vischer: Nature conservation in Switzerland. Report of the President of the former Swiss Nature Conservation Commission of the Swiss Natural Research Society 1906–1938 together with a general description of nature conservation activities in Switzerland. (= Swiss Nature Conservation Library. Volume 3). Swiss Confederation for Nature Conservation, Basel 1946.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Gottfried Huber-Pestalozzi: Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Vischer . In: Negotiations of the Swiss Natural Research Society . tape 140 , 1960, pp. 252-267 . (Digitized version)
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Wilhelm Rütimeyer: Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Vischer (1890–1960) . In: Basler Stadtbuch . 1962, p. 264-272 . (Digitized version)
  3. ^ A b Hermann Wichers : Wilhelm Vischer. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . July 31, 2013 , accessed December 4, 2016 .
  4. ^ A b Wilhelm Vischer: Mountain rides in Dutch India . In: Annual report of the Basel SAC section . 1929, p. 1-19 .
  5. ↑ a b c Max Geiger-Huber: Wilhelm Vischer . In: Negotiations of the Swiss Natural Research Society . tape 72 , no. 2 , 1962, pp. 358-363 .
personal data
SURNAME Vischer, Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vischer, Wilhelm Matthäus (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss botanist
DATE OF BIRTH January 5, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Basel , Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH June 2, 1960
Place of death Basel , Switzerland